Timeline

Y/M/D Description Association Composition Place Locale Food Event
Y/M/D Description Association Composition Place Locale Food Event
Architect Lawrence Soule House Cambridge, MA
1887/00/00 Designed by Mr Howe's firm, Howe residence is built by contractor Frank M Sharp for Frank M Howe as his home. Home Frank M Howe Residence Kansas City, MO
1903/00/00 Frank Howe designs the Palace of Varied Industries Building at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (razed). Architect Louisiana Purchase Exposition

History

The Frank Maynard Howe was born in Arlington, Massachusetts in 1849. He was educated at public schools and Cotting Academy before entering MIT as an architecture student (he was a member of the first class of architecture offered at the institution). In 1868, as a student, Howe entered the Boston firm of Henry Van Brunt and William Ware and worked there for many years. He left the firm for a time to take a position with the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, returning a year later to manage the office of Van Brunt and Howe.

In 1872, Howe married M Elizabeth Wyman and in 1878 the couple left for an extended trip abroad to travel and study. Upon his return, Howe engaged in a brief partnership with Arthur H Dodd of Boston. However, in 1882, the firm of Van Brunt and Howe was formed (Ware having left the partnership in 1881).

The new firm opened a branch office in Kansas City in 1885. As the junior partner, Howe acted as resident manager representing the firm for many years and expanding the business. Van Brunt and Howe were popular and prosperous - Kansas City was becoming an important rail center and was experiencing, with the advent of the twentieth century, a real estate and building boom. The office became so important, that by 1888 Van Brunt closed the eastern office and moved here. The firm received many commissions both in Kansas City and across the nation. Projects completed during the Kansas City years included: public libraries in Massachusetts; stations for the Union Pacific Railroad in Utah and Oregon; and private homes in Marlborough, New Hampshire and Cambridge. Henry Van Brunt died in 1903. Howe continued alone for a year before admitting Henry F Hoit and William Cutler into the partnership. In 1905, the name of the firm was formerly changed to Howe, Hoit and Cutler. In 1907, Cutler died; the firm was now called Howe and Hoit. After Howe died two years later, Hoit practiced alone until 1919 when he formed the Hoit, Price and Barnes partnership.

Van Brunt and Howe were among the most prominent architectural firms in the country at the turn of the century. Evidence of their prestige can be seen in their participation in the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 for which they designed the Electricity Building; they were also selected as the local assistants for the New York firm of McKim, Mead and White in the execution of designs for the New York Life Building (1890) in Kansas City, Mo. Important commissions in Kansas City during the nearly 25 year partnership of Van Brunt and Howe included: the Bayard Building; Gibraltar Building; Kansas City Club; Emery Bird Thayer Building; Coates House Hotel; Kansas City Star Building and Robert Keith Funiture and Carpet Co. Of these only the Bayard Building and the Coates House Hotel are still standing. There were many residential commissions as well, but those remaining include only: the Frank M Howe residence; C E Moss residence; Mrs G M Blossom residence; August R. Meyer residence; and S B Armour residence. The firm also participated in numerous renovations, super visions and alterations of other structures in the city.

There were many important commissions for Howe after the death of Van Brunt; among the best known are: the Varied Industries Building at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis 1904; and the R. A. Long Building and B'Nai Jehudah Temple by Howe, Hoit and Cutler. After a career that spanned more than 40 years, Howe spent the last few months before his death in 1909, traveling abroad for his health. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects and the Artillery Club of Boston. - NRHP, 26 February 1985

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